Lessons from Man United-Chelsea, Barca win again, Arsenal’s lack of depth, more-ZoomTech News

What a weekend of European soccer! We’ve got Liverpool high of the Premier League once more as Arsenal misplaced at Newcastle and Manchester Metropolis have been defeated at Bournemouth. We noticed Barcelona activate the model once more and defeat their native rivals Espanyol to take a nine-point lead atop LaLiga. Additionally, Bayern Munich received a 3rd straight match within the Bundesliga to construct a three-point cushion between them and the chasing pack.

The total Musings for this week can now be discovered beneath, with extra speaking factors round Barcelona, Man United 1-1 Chelsea, Atlético Madrid, a wild slate of Serie A matches, and far more.

It is Monday. Gab Marcotti reacts to the largest moments on the earth of soccer.

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What Ruben Amorim discovered from Man United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea

On Friday, Ruben Amorim, Manchester United’s manager-to-be, guided his Sporting facet to a 5-1 thumping of Estrela Amadora. Saturday was in all probability a warm-down/break day and whereas Sunday was probably dedicated to coaching and prep for the go to of Manchester Metropolis within the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, you think about he squeezed in a while to observe his future crew face Chelsea.

Given the cloud of negativity that has enveloped the membership — they’ve now performed 16 video games in all competitions and received simply 4, two of them within the League Cup, which does not actually matter — there have been positives for him to pick.

A draw towards a Chelsea facet that has actually cranked it up in current weeks is a creditable end result. Neither facet seemed notably good, however after the guests shaded the primary half, United took the lead, stayed within the recreation after the equalizer and had probabilities to win on the finish. (To be truthful, so did Chelsea.) It is also important, I feel, that whereas Chelsea successfully had every week to organize for the sport — simply one in every of Chelsea’s beginning XI, Noni Madueke, featured in midweek and he performed 33 minutes — eight United starters have been additionally within the lineup within the League Cup. And but, regardless of Chelsea having a youthful and, presumably, fitter, facet, United weren’t outhustled or outworked.

Whereas interim boss Ruud Van Nistelrooy did not use the 3-4-2-1 formation we anticipate Amorim will make use of, there have been clues and parallels. Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro got extra licence to roam from central midfield, very similar to Amorim’s central midfielders at Sporting, they usually did OK. Noussair Mazraoui, shifted out to the left, seemed harmful. There is no sense that the gamers are mailing it in as they look forward to the brand new boss.

Low bar? Positive. Have been there negatives too? In fact. However at this stage, it is in all probability extra helpful for Amorim to determine the strengths on which he can construct than realising the issues he wants to repair, if solely as a result of the switch window does not reopen till January. And given the truth that this United facet is not constructed for his 3-4-2-1 — they haven’t any viable right-sided centerback till Leny Yoro returns, there is a massive gap at left again that Mazraoui could or could not fill, and loads of questions in the midst of the park — he could find yourself sticking to the present formation, whereas introducing tweaks and ideas right here and there.

As for Chelsea, Maresca stated he was pleased with the purpose. Given the youth of this crew, given he is solely been there for a couple of months, on condition that it is United away (even this model of United) some extent is a constructive. He made a giant name in leaving out Enzo Fernández, however Moisés Caicedo was arguably man of the match and Romeo Lavia was glorious too. That exhibits self-belief and persona. So long as Chelsea hold doing properly, it will not be an issue for him, down the street, given the payment paid for him, it might flip into one for the membership, however that should not concern him proper now.

Extra of a problem, I feel, is how even a fresh-legged Chelsea could not flip a stable first half into targets and clear-cut probabilities. Cole Palmer was muted (by his lofty requirements) and in some unspecified time in the future, any person wants to select up the inventive slack when he is not donning his Superman cape. That is nonetheless very a lot a piece in progress.

Barcelona make it six wins in a row, however derby victory suggests Hansi Flick should act … and he’ll

They’ve received each recreation they’ve performed this season, bar two: towards Monaco within the Champions League (once they performed 79 minutes with 10 males), and Osasuna in LaLiga (when he rested plenty of regulars). But when Hansi Flick thinks he can relaxation on his laurels (and I do not assume he does), then the 3-1 win over Espanyol ought to function a warning.

Barca destroyed the opposition within the first half (3-0, 1.59 xG) solely to wilt after the break, with Espanyol pulling one again, forcing Iñaki Peña to make a stellar save and seeing two targets disallowed for essentially the most marginal of offsides.

Espanyol have had two targets wiped away by these marginal offside calls.

Sport of centimeters 😮 pic.twitter.com/R9xH5N9n7n

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 3, 2024

It is not as if Flick despatched on the scrubs on the break, both: Fermín López and Frenkie De Jong for Dani Olmo and Marc Casadó have been predictable subs designed to take care of your focus. It is not only a perform of Flick’s high-risk line of defense, the place you are a split-second away from giving your opponents a run on aim, both; it is merely that enjoying this manner could be very taxing and requires depth. Barca have 9 gamers who’ve already began 11 video games this season, 4 of them are 21 or youthful. Anticipating them to proceed to play with this degree of depth appears unrealistic.

The excellent news? The cavalry is right here. Frenkie De Jong and Gavi are match once more, Andreas Christensen and Eric García might be again after the worldwide break and we must always see Ronald Araújo return to the primary crew in January. That ought to assist Flick handle the workload, however as a result of a number of of them have completely different ability units than the blokes they’re changing, it should even be a chance to differ the way in which Barcelona performs. It may imply ditching the excessive line in some conditions, various the depth and timing of the press, presumably tweaking the formation too.

Flick has choices; he simply wants to decide on the correct one and make it work as a result of regardless of the early success, merely maintaining issues as they’re is, probably, the unsuitable selection. Flick 2.0 might be fascinating…

Mikel Arteta takes it on the chin in Arsenal loss, however perhaps that is the place squad depth comes house to roost

Mikel Arteta did not cover after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle. He did not deliver up the truth that his crew outshot the opposition or had twice Newcastle’s anticipated targets. He did not cry about accidents or Declan Rice not connecting cleanly together with his late probability.

“We deserved to lose immediately,” he stated. “We received dragged into the sport Newcastle wished and never the one we wished.”

What he meant, presumably, is that Newcastle outhustled and outmuscled them and turned it right into a recreation about depth, moderately than management and particular person high quality. And right here, Arsenal have been no match.

Now, it is easy to make enjoyable of Arteta when he notes that Newcastle are “massive and bodily” — Anthony Gordon is neither, and it isn’t as if Rice, Kai Havertz, William Saliba and Gabriel are a bunch of weaklings — however you’ll be able to see his level. The great factor about having extra ability in your facet is that generally you’ll be able to take your foot off the fuel. However solely generally, and solely to some extent.

That is the place accidents come into play, after all: Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Martin Odegaard have been all out (although Newcastle’s damage record is even longer and, arguably, extra vital). However greater than that, it is a problem of workload.

Havertz has performed each minute of each league and Champions League recreation this season. Rice and Saliba would have too, if not for his or her crimson playing cards. Thomas Partey and Gabriel have additionally began each recreation (bar the League Cup). That provides up, not essentially by way of efficiency, however definitely by way of bringing the correct depth in each recreation.

Accidents have not helped, but it surely does really feel like Arteta is reluctant to place a lot religion into his gamers past the primary 14 or 15 names. I am unsure he can afford to do this. (Information on Monday that sporting director Edu, a longtime Arteta good friend and colleague, is set to leave the club will even add stress to this example.)

Residence truths for Napoli after ‘laborious cease’ towards Atalanta, who hardly ever fail to amaze

After his crew’s 3-0 house defeat, Napoli boss Antonio Conte stated, “Atalanta are a greater crew, they have been on a journey for years …” He is in all probability proper on each counts, but it surely’s price noting that the “journey” that he talks about is extra concerning the membership and the mentality than the personnel. Half the XI who resoundingly received on the San Paolo weren’t on the membership simply 18 months in the past, and but they give the impression of being as if they have been working in Gian Piero Gasperini’s system for years, primarily as a result of, sure, he is an excellent coach at a really well-run membership.

5 top-five finishes prior to now six years and the Europa League victory over mighty Bayer Leverkusen final season, all towards higher resourced opponents, converse to a membership and coach who’re very a lot in sync and who merely make higher selections than the competitors. And consistency engenders perception and buy-in, which is why it is simpler for Gasperini to get his message throughout. Or, as he did on Sunday, drop Serie A’s main aim scorer, Mateo Retegui, to the bench. Unorthodox? Positive. However who’s going to query him when he is received that a lot cred?

There is a parallel there with Conte, after all, within the sense that he is available in with the massive rep from day one and this season has earned that buy-in together with his outcomes (not less than earlier than Sunday, when Napoli had put collectively 9 wins and one draw of their earlier 10 video games). It is simply that what Gasperini builds over time, he has to construct in a couple of months, and he by no means actually builds over time as a result of, properly, after getting out of the gates shortly, he tends to not stick round very lengthy.

The warning indicators have been there for Napoli, regardless of their spectacular run of type. They beat Milan with out dominating in midweek, and earlier than that, they’d a few 1-0 wins (one deserved, one much less so). Conte has the posh of no European soccer and, broadly, getting the gamers he wished in the summertime. However you hope he is the primary to appreciate that his crew aren’t the place he needs them to be. That will not occur till Romelu Lukaku begins producing, Billy Gilmour can fill Stanislav Lobotka’s sneakers (or Lobotka returns) and David Neres can dwell as much as his payment.

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Fast hits

10. Bayern Munich roll on, the Barca debacle behind them: That is three wins in a row for Bayern, 12 targets scored, 9 conceded. And on Saturday, their 3-0 win got here towards Union Berlin, hardly pushovers as evidenced by the truth that they have been joint third going into the sport. Harry Kane bagged two (and is on tempo for a 40-goal season), Jamal Musiala confirmed (once more) why this crew is nowhere close to pretty much as good when he is not there, however most encouraging I assumed is how a few of the extra criticised gamers — central defenders Kim Min-Jae and Dayot Upamecano, Alphonso Davies out large and the person within the center, Joshua Kimmich — are all clicking properly.

9. Liverpool present indicators of damage, however come again to beat Brighton and go high: Arne Slot himself complained about how poor they seemed within the first half, when Brighton scored one and will have had extra. Blame it on a mixture of Brighton being a tricky out, some people having an off day (Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai spring to thoughts) and the gathered fatigue of Champions League soccer for a facet that does not rotate a lot. Some oomph off the bench, a little bit of luck on Cody Gakpo‘s aim and a few magic from Mohamed Salah turned it round. Slot and Liverpool enter the week on high of the Premier League desk. It is comprehensible that he hasn’t rotated a lot to date, however to remain high down the stretch, he’ll probably have to do it much more.

8. Sure, the VAR name was tight they usually gave up probabilities, however please sit back on Inter Milan: Sure, Venezia defender Marin Sverko was very unfortunate to have what would have been a 98th minute equalizer towards Inter dominated out, however the guidelines are clear and you may’t rating together with your arm (or wrist), even when it is unintentional. Sure, Yann Sommer needed to make two superlative saves and sure, squint and you may see Inter operating with a bit much less depth than final 12 months. However let’s not go all gloom and doom right here. Within the first 40 minutes of the sport, Inter restricted Venezia to zero pictures and will have scored 3 times. After the break, they missed one other three massive probabilities en path to an xG of 1.33 and apart from Joel Pojhanpalo’s strike, they conceded little till the VAR name. I do not assume it is fairly time for doom-and-gloom: Fede Dimarco continues to be devastating, Lautaro Martínez is scoring recurrently once more and Hakan Calhanoglou (who performed the final 20 minutes) might be again in midfield actual quickly.

7. Nuri Sahin and Borussia Dortmund get the response they wished … however have been Leipzig simply horrible on the day? A win over earlier league leaders RB Leipzig could be very important and a crucial bounce-back for Dortmund after three straight defeats. So I do not wish to poo-poo the 2-1 victory, particularly because it was a comeback. Embattled coach Nuri Sahin stated he believes in his crew and would consider in them even when they misplaced seven in a row. They got here out of the gate shortly, absorbed Benjamin Sesko‘s opening aim after which stormed again, limiting Leipzig — who’re often so prolific — to simply two pictures within the second half. However I reckon it is a bit early to recommend every little thing is A-OK once more since you marvel how issues might need turned out if Maximilian Beier‘s equalizer hadn’t come so quickly after the Sesko aim. And also you marvel how a lot Leipzig’s uncharacteristic futility at each ends of the pitch influenced this end result. Wednesday and Champions League cupcake Sturm Graz at house will not supply a lot of a sign, but it surely may all unravel shortly once more in the event that they slip up towards Mainz heading into the mid-November worldwide break.

6. Ange Postecoglou derails the Unai Emery Bandwagon: We’re so used to (rightly) heaping reward on Aston Villa and Unai Emery’s tactical prowess that it is easy to overlook that within the final two video games (Bournemouth at house and Tottenham away) they misplaced a complete of 5 factors after taking the lead. Had they held on, they’d be second alongside Manchester Metropolis. Credit score Tottenham for his or her second-half comeback and blame particular person errors and a few poor turnovers for the 4-1 defeat. I do not assume it is purpose to panic, but it surely does underscore how tactical plans and training are properly and good, people nonetheless have to execute: if Pau Torres lays an egg and Ollie Watkins misses probabilities, that is past Emery’s remit. As for Spurs, seeing Dominic Solanke come alive (the targets get the headlines, the work off the ball was simply as vital) is a giant enhance. If the is one criticism of Ange Postecoglou, it is the Heung-Min Son substitution. I perceive desirous to restrict his minutes — the supervisor stated after the sport that Son wasn’t absolutely match and “was by no means going to play greater than 55 minutes” — however having your captain seem shocked (like a lot of White Hart Lane) at seeing his quantity come up just isn’t a very good look. (Had they misplaced this recreation, you think about Postecoglou can be within the scorching seat … once more). Only a reminder that readability and communication are important.

5. Juventus win, however we’d as properly get used to them being inconsistent for some time: With this Juve facet, the worst factor you are able to do is have a knee-jerk response to each end result: They have been horrendous towards Stuttgart, spectacular within the comeback towards Inter, poor at house towards Parma in midweek and now good once more in a 2-0 away win at Udinese. They seemed good in spots, Kenan Yildiz confirmed (once more) that he is a player-and-a-half, Teun Koopmeiners began and Khephren Thuram had his finest recreation in a Juventus shirt. The flip facet? Udinese have been poor (Kenan Davis apart), possession was too usually sterile, Lorenzo Lucca hit the woodwork and Michele Di Gregorio needed to make a giant save. The upshot? Up-and-down performances are regular for younger sides lacking key gamers and with a newly put in coach who sees the sport otherwise than his predecessors. Nothing unsuitable with that.

4. A pick-me-up for Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone will get to see his son rating: That is the excellent news, and there is nothing like an opponent like Las Palmas (one shot all recreation, 0.02 anticipated targets) to provide you a lift after defeats to Lille and Actual Betis. It is laborious to even assess although whether or not there was a lot progress, given how poor the opposition was within the 2-0 win. The excellent news, although, is that with everybody speaking about Diego Simeone’s “different” son, Giuliano, scoring his first ever Atletico aim, the main focus will not be on the efficiency. And that ought to give them time to organize correctly for the journey to Paris in midweek, when every little thing may come crashing down once more.

3. Milan grind out a 1-0 win at Monza, however this does not really feel like a Fonseca crew: I say this as a result of he made his title with sides that have been dynamic and possession-oriented. This Milan facet are dynamic however too usually incapable of doing a lot with the ball, particularly towards opponents who sit tight like Monza did. Their finest work — and Tijjani Reijnders‘ aim — got here in transition. Positive, Rafael Leão was on the bench once more (he got here on and delivered a second of fruitless magic) and Youssouf Fofana wants to search out his ft as a playmaker, however proper now a lot of the difference-making moments on this crew come from people: like Mike Maignan‘s save off Pedro Pereira or Theo Hernández turning on the afterburners or Christian Pulisic operating himself into the bottom. That entire value-add factor is not there but, and Actual Madrid are subsequent up midweek within the Champions League …

2. Wasteful PSG held to at least one aim by 10-man Lens as Marco Asensio will get his flip to audition up entrance: Ousmane Dembélé broke the ice early on and also you have been hoping for an open, aggressive recreation between Paris Saint-Germain and Lens. As an alternative it was one-way visitors, with Luis Enrique’s crew piling up (and lacking) their probabilities and Lens flailing (apart from Brice Samba‘s heroics in aim). Lens taking place to 10 males early within the second half clearly did not assist issues. After attempting Lee Kang-In and Dembele within the function, we noticed Marco Asensio get the nod at middle ahead. He’ll get criticism for the missed probabilities, but when you are going to insist on a “false 9,” he is in all probability a greater choice than the opposite two. Or, you could possibly simply hold it easy and provides poor previous Randal Kolo Muani — you realize, the man PSG paid €75 million in switch charges for 15 months in the past — a run of video games? He has simply two begins this season and was an unused sub this weekend.

1. Man Metropolis’s unbeaten league streak ends at 32 with deserved defeat at Bournemouth: First, hats off to Bournemouth and Andoni Iraola as a result of of their previous three video games, they beat Arsenal and Metropolis and received some extent away to Aston Villa. Saturday’s win over Metropolis was complete, particularly in a primary half by which the defending champions notched zero pictures on the right track and mustered an xG of solely 0.18. (Even with Erling Haaland‘s late close-range double misses, Bournemouth nonetheless received the xG battle, 2.04 to 1.56.) Clearly you query Pep at your peril — he has the file to again it up — however his squad administration is, generally, curious. He began Kyle Walker, who apparently had all of six minutes of training and had a tough recreation and left him on for 90 minutes. This, regardless of having Rico Lewis on the bench. Regardless of being 2-0 down and creating near nothing, his solely two adjustments have been sending on Lewis with 17 minutes left and Jérémy Doku with 5 left. Savinho stayed rooted to the bench, as did Kevin De Bruyne (who hasn’t performed in six weeks, however presumably can hit a useless ball). Positive, accidents chew, however on this event, I am unsure Pep made issues higher.